Full Frame: On the ground in Haiti

Full Frame features photo essays and conversations with photographers.

I was in Haiti in the immediate aftermath of the January earthquake that killed at least 230,000 people and left more than 1 million homeless. Ten months later, I returned. I found a country where there is little evidence of progress and where most live in fear.

Two thousand families live across the street from the presidential palace without water, electricity or basic supplies. Everywhere, on every public square and vacant lot, there are encampments, meant to be temporary, and yet still standing months later.

And then there is cholera. A colleague and I followed the team whose job is to collect the bodies of cholera victims.

In Leogane, a small city hit hard by the quake, a crowd swiftly assembled and started throwing rocks at the team. Meanwhile, our vehicle had been blocked. For an hour the crowd threatened to set the car on fire. We were accused of coming to Leogane to spread cholera. It was the third time in a week that the team had been attacked.

About the photographer:

Renaud Philippeis a French freelance photojournalist based in Quebec City, Canada. He co-founded the collective Stigmat Photo. A self-taught photographer, Renaud is very active in the local press and teaches photojournalism to Somalian refugees in Kenya and Bhutanese refugees in Canada.